Social Life

Social life is coming back. Went round for a meal with friends last week, round to some others for some wine on Friday evening. Bike rides with people. Getting back.

 This Rowan tree in full berry-show stood out on Thorne Moor last week.

Thorne Moors

I was back on Thorne Moors for the first time since the spring; it is best to keep the dog away during bird nesting season. It was an epic day, I walked with the dog for 4 1/2 hours and saw literally no one. Incredible that such a perfect place can be so quiet.  I am glad that it is so. 

Drax

 The Queen of Drax surveys her lands. From our walk up the river Derwent last week.

Wressle

This is the remains of Wressle castle on the river Derwent, where I walked last week. It was built by the Percy family and is now (despite plenty of public money being used to restore it) totally off limits to the public.

The Pub

 The last time I had a drink with friend Patrick was the day before lockdown back in March 2020. It was great to meet again. The pub was Monday night quiet (how I like it) and to say that Gerald the pub dog was relaxed would have been an understatement. Good for community life to be slowly turning some kind of corner.

Surprise

There is always a photograph that surprises my by selling. This year it was this shot of a thicket at Dringhouses. For most of the year it is an unmemorable and scruffy bit of nothing. Then when the waters flood it becomes this eerie and magical place. Just for one day.

Chilli news

 After a few years of poor chilli growing upstairs, this year they are going well. Still a way to go to get them ready for drying, but it is looking good.

Canals

 

Had a good walk up the Pocklington canal the other week with Danielle. Peaceful and idyllic. 

The Reason we Cycle

Being able to stop at cafes for tea and cake was a welcome respite from lockdown. This cafe near Hadrian's wall hit the spot with the size of pot and cup, and indeed lemon-drizzle cake.

Return

This shot is from the day I walked with the dog in the forest. Peaceful and relaxing.

When we got back from Cumbria, we welcomed Rowan and friend Lydia who stayed for the weekend, very nice to meet her.

Olympics

As ever we have all enjoyed the Olympics. What is interesting this time is how many of the athletes Rowan trained or raced with are now featuring in events. Morgan Lake, who won the high jump when Rowan came fourth in a national competition in Sheffield, made in into the final of the Olympic high jump for GB only to have to pull out with an injured foot. Jess Judd who ran in the final of the 10K for GB today, used to train at York Athletics Club, where Rowan trained too. Katerina Johnson Thompson was competing at an event where Rowan was also competing (in a different age group). Jess Ennis was competing at Cudworth in the Yorkshire Championships when Rowan won her age group at the high jump, to be told that no one had jumped that high at that age since Jess. Sydney McLaughlin who won the womens 400m hurdles for the US, competed at the same nationals in the US as Rowan did, when we saw her at Greensboro, North Carolina. And Rowan found out that one of the boys who she did some mountain bike training with at Baildon near Bradford, was Tom Pidcock who won the Mountain Bike gold medal.

 Here is Rowan with Jess Ennis ten years ago in 2011

Dog news

 Harley (a street dog obviously) was staying next door to us at the cottage. This meant we could leave the dogs to run, sniff and flop on the lawn. Everyone happy.

Rabbit news

Our last full day in Cumbria, and we walked in the Gelt gorge again. Layla celebrated by hunting a rabbit. Getting her to leave her dead trophy behind was not easy, but she got bored with it in the end. This beautiful glade was in the valley of the river Gelt.

Forest

Whilst Danielle was doing work on her Masters, I took the dog for a walk in the forest north of Hadrians Wall at Scotchcoultard. We stayed here once, and I have cycled through it on the Pennine Cycleway. So it was good to revisit. A large and lonely forest, with moors stretching in all directions.

Solway

I had long wanted to visit the Solway Firth. On the one hand there is the remains of the bonkers viaduct that crossed the firth to Scotland. More recently I became aware of the peat bog that covers a large area near Port Carlisle. The bog was fantastic, not as good as Humberhead but still worth a visit. This woodland was part of the bog, on an RSPB reserve.

Bike Ride

 Day 2 I rode from Brampton where we were staying, over Hartside pass, down to Alston, then on the old railway line, including over this viaduct, to Haltwhistle. From there it was alongside Hadrian's wall back to Brampton and to our cottage. Needless to say it was a great ride.

Local walk

Day one, we walked up the gorge of the river Gelt, a really impressive area to explore, about which I knew nothing.

Holiday!

We stayed at a cottage in Cumbria near Brampton, in a hamlet called Greenwell. As you can see from this shot not only was it a lovely 1720 house, but Layla also felt well at home there. Really good owner as well, so all was set for a great week.

Armley

Last week I took Rowan to Armley for probably her last visit to her local black hairdressers up here. As usual I took a walk round about whilst she was getting done. This is a shot in Armley park; it was a beautiful warm and sunny day. Back in the summer.

The River

Sometimes I see a beautiful shot that I want to capture, and sometimes I fail to capture what it is that I love about it. That happened with this image of a river bank, but I  liked the cast shadow and the reflection of the cast shaddow a lot. So the image has survived.
 

Summer

Sometimes the heat and the sun gets too much for half of the family.

Swamp Dog

Layla's position of choice is to wallow like a hippo in water (preferably muddy). The hot weather we have been treated to only increases her pleasure.

Vegetable Garden

This is the time of year when the vegetable garden looks at his best, before the weeds and caterpillars get to work. Mange tout peas, french beans, spinach, kale and cabbage all ready to be eaten. Best time of the year.

Cocktail?

Open studios was a hot slog. So when Danielle offered me a cocktail after day three I was both grateful and happy. Unfortunately the cocktail was built around terrible cheap lager we have been trying to get rid of for years (by use as a slug-deterrent), salt, chilli and some srarcha. Not my favourite, but the thought was appreciated.

Uncle news.

Rowan subscribes to Olive, a BBC food magazine. She opened her latest copy and was just about to chuck out all the adverts that tumble from any magazine nowadays. One pamphlet for small cities in the USA caught her attention enough to open it; she was bemused to see a picture of her uncle, Danielle's brother Ben in his town crier attire for Alexandria which was one of the cities featured. Never happened to me.

Here he is resplendent in the uniform. 

YOS part 2

Layla sneaked into Rowan's room when she was away and a good sniff of all her things. She definitely missed her.

It is the second weekend of Open Studios, unfortunately the hot weather (29C) meant our attendance was way down on usual. A real drag, but one we can do nothing about. Hopefully it being slightly cooler tomorrow might get people back out on the trail.

More from the Mill

 These are the raised beds at the mill in Devon. Made from old railway sleepers; very impressive.

Devon

Just back from Salgar Mill in Devon, where Danielle was speaking at a "new economy" event. It was all outdoors and a really good atmosphere. I went along and enjoyed sitting in the vegetable garden which had been converted from an old tennis court. Back today on the train, a long journey but direct from Tiverton Parkway to York, so enjoyable.

Danielle getting ready for her performance.

YOS Day one and two

Well, York Open Studios has started and overall it has been better in terms of numbers and sales than I expected; not as high as usual but far from disastrous. We can only have 6 people in the studio at one time, so there is quite a bit of people having to wait outside, but we have set up a covered waiting area.

The Elmet book is selling, and I sold a very large copy of this shot from the book which was gratifying.

We shall see what tomorrow brings.

The Show looms.

I only took this last month, but it is strange enough for me to give it a go at Open Studios which starts tomorrow evening. As always it will be interesting to see what the reaction is like.

It has been hectic getting everything ready for the show. Not helped by my booking a band session on Tuesday when friend Debbie joined us to sing on a few songs. Always good to have another (better) voice available. 

Sand River

 This has made the cut for Open Studios too. I am showing it as a large framed print. Taken in Cap Verde.

Tai Chi

I am exhibiting this shot for the first time at YOS this year. I am producing it as a small framed shot, like a miniature. It includes a Tai Chi performer; a first for me I think.

 

Ebor Way

I found this signpost for the Ebor Way, a very low profile long distance path near York, so deep in the hedgerow that it would be of very limited use to anyone trying to follow the route.

The Kite and the Dog

Walked by the river Wharfe this week. A red kite was taking a slightly worrying interest in the dog. The dog was also very interested with the kite, you can see it centre picture. 

Le Tour has started and is proving a fantastic race so far, seeing Cav win yesterday was unbelievable. Oh, and there is some football on as well. No space for Wimbledon at all.
 

Windmills on the Ouse.

I am probably also going to exhibit this image at Open Studios. From experience it could go either way; it might seem too normal to attract people, or it could be dramatic enough to capture people's imagination. If I had to guess I would say the former, but you never know and I hate to build up expectation too far. 

River of Sand

I have chosen the new shots I shall be showing at Open Studios next month. This has enough ambiguity and abstractness to make the cut. From Cap Verde in 2019 (from before the fall).

Guitarist!

This is niece KC (Ben & Kari's daughter). Words are not really necessary, but to have another electric guitar player in the family is a great thing. Looking forward to jamming at Xmas some year.

Dead Tree Glade

Also in the goshawk forest I found this dead tree surrounded by healthy ones. It gives the glade a strange atmosphere, just a little bit creepy. 

Goshawks

Walking up in Wykeham forest last week I heard a strange sound. Both Layla and I looked around working out what it was. I then saw this huge nest in the pines, it was well over a metre wide and contained some hefty bird of prey chicks. When I got home I discovered it to be a Goshawk nest. First time I have seen that bird, and a great experience.

House Guests!

Friends Mark and Mandy stayed over last weekend. Great to see them, and to host guests again. Got a meal in from a restaurant, then on the Sunday went to Brew York to watch the England match. A good time all round.

 

May Moss

I walked up on Fylingdales Moor in the North York Moors. May Moss might look very like Humberhead peat bogs, and it is also a peat bog, but at 250 metres above sea level, compared with the 2 metres of Humberhead.

Bugthorpe

Got another church ride in with Robert the other week. This is Bugthorpe church. I like a nice haphazard wall like this.

Steaming

 Steam trains are back on the lines through York. It is always an excitement to see them in action. This is a shot for the times we live in.

Skyline

I ran my first photography workshop since pre-pandemic in the studio. It went really well, good to be back face to face with people.

This is one last shot from our walk, with Ingleborough (to the left) and Pen y Gent (to the right) on the skyline.

High Stile

Taken on the Gisburn walk. I do like a stile, and this one really caught my eye. Layla was not so keen on climbing it, but she managed.

Family walk

Went a walk with my sister and brother in law, Ro and Pete at the weekend. It was an interesting route involving, bogs, denuded forest, no paths and farmers trying to hide their public footpaths from the public. But it was great all the same; Gisburn Forest from the Settle side.

The losing of the sofa war

Rowan took this shot of Layla deciding to join me on the sofa by climbing over the back of it. She is a great companion.

Book Out

Book out today.

Spirit of Elmet, Simon Palmour's second photo essay is now available. Over 100 high quality photographs of the land that used to be the ancient British Celtic kingdom of Elmet in Yorkshire. Presented together with text that explores the history, geography and psychology of this fascinating and beautiful area from pre-Roman times to the present day.

Order now for immediate despatch with free postage.

£20 per signed copy.

Available direct by email, send your postal address to palmour@gmail.com

(payment details via bank transfer or PayPal will be sent by return)

Also available on Amazon at

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?i=stripbooks...

Web: www.palmour.eu

Twitter: @palmour

Mail: palmour@gmail.com

Wedding

So here is one from the wedding. Emma and Alex had just paused at Emma's grandfather's (my Uncle Geoff) gravestone.  

Wolds again

Got a walk in with Layla in the beautiful idyllic wolds on Bank Holiday Monday. It was quite busy, saw about five people in over 3 hours of walking.